Twenty-seven remand prisoners Tuesday breathed an air of freedom at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons after a special hearing under this year’s Justice for All programme initiated by the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood. The remand prisoners, who had been in custody ranging from seven to 14 years for various offenses including robbery , rape, defilement and other misdemeanors without trial, were discharged by judges from the magistrate, circuit and the high courts. The all-male prisoners were those who have been languishing in custody for well over 8 years, during which period a fair number have appeared before judges or seen the inside of a courtroom only once or a couple of times. Most of them showed extreme excitement and thanked the judges for the nice gesture extended to them, promising to be of good behavior and serve their nation. A huge number of them were granted bail while those who pleaded guilty were convicted and sentenced accordingly. Justice for All is a programme organized by the Judicial Service with the support of the Attorney General’s Department, the Police Service, the Prison Service, and the Ghana Bar Association. As part of the programme, selected courts are moved to the Nsawam Prisons and cases of remand prisoners that have been pending for a while are heard. 140 cases were listed for hearing in the male prisons. The project, which is being sponsored by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will continue until the end of the 2009/10 legal year, when it will then be reviewed. Speaking at the programme, Chief Justice Georgina Wood observed that although Article 19 of the constitution protects the right of suspects to bail, the rights of these prisoners have been violated because they have not been treated fairly. The Chief Justice, who disclosed that remand prisoners as at last year stood at 2,356, indicated that the high population of remand prisoners is a clear indication that “we are more in breach of these constitutional provisions than their observance”. According to the Chief Justice, as stated in the law, bail should not, be withheld in the case of persons charged with bailable offenses, unless there are compelling reasons for doing so. “It is therefore a big shame, as reported by the Inspector-General of Police that some members of the judiciary connive with police prosecutors and or detectives to throw persons charged with relatively minor offenses into remand prison without sufficient and just cause,” she stressed. This unwholesome practice, she explained, is one of the reasons why our prisons are congested, emphasizing that “this practice, which is a clear departure from our legal norms and values, must cease.” She added that the general public equally has an obligation to stop bringing their influence to bear on officials within the justice system by using bail as an instrument of punishment for settling personal scores or exacting the payment of civil debts craftily camouflaged as criminal cases. The real challenge, according to her, lies with the non-bailable offenses such as robbery and murder as well as narcotics, rape, and defilement cases, adding that even with that, bail will nonetheless be granted wherever it is demonstrated that there has been an unreasonable delay in the trial or where the facts presented upon arraignment do not support the offense with which the accused is charged. “Each one of us actively engaged in the administration of criminal justice has contributed to this anomalous situation. For this reason, the responsibility lies on us to collaboratively work to find a concrete solution to this problem which sadly does constitute a blot on our human rights record,” she indicated. On the part of the Judiciary, she admitted that all remand prisoners were in the first instance remanded on court orders. “Certainly, none of these men and women walked to the prisons gate and pleaded that they be thrown in there. We therefore appreciate the need for taking our constitutional responsibilities seriously to ensure that the ends of criminal justice are well served.” The Chief Justice who noted that majority of the prisoners were the youth, advised them to be helpful to themselves, family and the nation at large and try as much as possible not to become re-offenders. “This place is not good for you to live. If God wanted people to live in prison, he would have established many prisons before populating the world”. Source: Daily Guide